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    Home ยป Recipes ยป Cookies

    Sprinkle Cookies

    March 15, 2019 Updated February 26, 2020 BySam Merritt 72 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video
    Sprinkle Cookies

    Fun, colorful, Sprinkle Cookies! Soft, buttery, chewy cookies encased in a colorful sprinkle shell! Oh, and did I mention that there’s no chilling necessary!?  

    Sprinkle cookies cooling on cooling rack

    Happy Friday!

    It also happens to be Zach’s birthday today and while I’d love to say I made these sprinkle cookies to celebrate, unfortunately that’s not the case. The man hates sprinkles. I’m not even kidding here, he hates them. He loathes the texture (!?!), and he especially hates the way they get all over the house every time I make anything that uses them.

    For his birthday he asked that I make him my chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, and he was adamant that not so much as a single sprinkle should adorn his cake. I guess at 29 he’s really falling into his grumpy old guy stride.

    Anyway, rather than being a festive birthday share, it’s kind of ironic I’m sharing these sprinkle cookies on the birthday of the biggest sprinkle-hater in my life, but here we are. And I have no apologies because these sprinkle cookies are amazing. Soft and chewy on the inside with a candy-like sprinkle coating on the outside… he doesn’t know what he’s missing.

    cookie dough rolled in nonpareil sprinkles

    The base for these sprinkle cookies is a buttery vanilla cookie. I actually based it largely off of my Snickerdoodles recipe, and you’ll notice that this cookie recipe uses cream of tartar.

    I wanted a cookie that was soft and chewy, but not overly sweet on its own. We’re adding a lot of sugary sprinkles to the outside, so a cookie with a subtle tang (thank you, cream of tartar) was the best choice to counter the sweetness.

    AND, there’s absolutely no chilling required with this recipe. I have so many cookie recipes that require chilling, it’s nice to make cookies without needing to use the fridge for once!

    Sprinkle cookies on baking pan after baking

    Tips for Making Sprinkle Cookies

    • Roll your sprinkle cookie dough through the sprinkles immediately after rolling. Immediately after rolling the surface of your cookie dough will be slightly warmed from your hands and sticky enough to pick up all the sprinkles that you roll it through. If you wait and roll out all of your dough and then go back to roll it, the surface will have lost its stickiness and won’t pick up as many sprinkles.
    • Jimmies/traditional sprinkles will work instead of nonpareils. In my opinion I prefer the texture and snappy crunch of the nonpareils and I prefer the way the nonpareils completely coat the cookies, leaving much less cookie showing through than traditional sprinkles do.
    • The centers of your cookies should be ever so slightly underdone when they finish baking. Let them finish cooling completely on the cookie sheet before enjoying. They’ll finish cooking here, too, and will be nice and soft (or at least the interiors will be).

    Sprinkle cookies on cooling rack

    Enjoy!

    Other Recipes You Might Like:

    • Funfetti Cookies
    • Sugar Cookies
    • Chocolate Snickerdoodles
    • Snickerdoodle Blondies

    Sprinkle cookies on cooling rack

    Sprinkle Cookies

    Fun, colorful, SPRINKLE COOKIES! No chilling required! Buttery chewy cookies encased in a colorful sprinkle shell! 
    Be sure to check out the how-to VIDEO at the bottom of the post! 
    5 from 37 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Course: Cookies, Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
    Servings: 35 cookies
    Calories: 146kcal
    Author: Sam Merritt

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
    • 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulatedsugar
    • 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose plain flour
    • 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
    • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ¾ teaspoon salt
    • 1 ¼ cups nonpareil sprinkles

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
    • In a large bowl and using an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well-combined
      1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulatedsugar
    • Add egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract. Beat until thoroughly combined.
      1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt until completely combined.
      3 cups (375 g) all-purpose, 1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
    • Gradually add dry ingredients to wet until completely combined.
    • Scoop dough into Tablespoon-sized balls and roll between your palms until smooth and round. Immediately roll through nonpareils until cookie dough ball is completely coated with sprinkles.
      1 ¼ cups nonpareil sprinkles
    • Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies at least 1 ½” apart.
    • Transfer to 350F (175C) preheated oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely on baking sheet before serving.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 146kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 169IU | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg

    Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.

    Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!
    « Homemade Gobs (Whoopie Pies)
    Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Elissa

      March 14, 2025 at 12:27 am

      5 stars
      Awesome cookies!

      Reply
      • Sam

        March 14, 2025 at 12:01 pm

        I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Elissa! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    2. Jessica

      February 04, 2025 at 4:16 pm

      5 stars
      when I make my cookies into balls for this and the funfetti one they don’t Flatten in the oven? not sure why?
      they taste great though.

      Reply
      • Sam

        February 07, 2025 at 5:08 pm

        Hi Jessica! Are you weighing your flour? You may have a little too much flour in the dough.

        Reply
    3. Shelby

      January 18, 2025 at 2:58 pm

      5 stars
      These cookies are FABULOUS and I canโ€™t stop making them!

      Sam, your recipes are amazing! In a sea of weird (probably AI) recipes that donโ€™t usually turn out well, I know I can count on your recipes to always turn out. I also very much appreciate you providing weight measurements for the most accurate bake. Thank you!!
      P.s. please email me if youโ€™re ever on the lookout for a recipe tester ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ˜‰

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 20, 2025 at 10:42 am

        Thank you so much, Shelby! I’m so glad you enjoy everything so much! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    4. Bridgette

      October 05, 2024 at 1:26 pm

      Hi! Want to try this recipe but cut it in half the first time. Will that work if I just use one entire egg?

      Reply
      • Sam

        October 22, 2024 at 12:39 pm

        Hi Bridgitte! A whole egg will work, but the cookies could be slightly puffier and spread a little bit.

        Reply
    5. Donna

      December 10, 2023 at 3:14 pm

      These came
      Our flat and way too sweet. Not at all what I expected.

      Reply
      • Sam

        December 10, 2023 at 8:34 pm

        Oh no! That’s definitely not how they should’ve turned out, how frustrating.

        Reply
    6. Penny

      May 23, 2023 at 10:02 pm

      5 stars
      Hi!
      These are amazing!! I wanted to know if I wanted slightly larger cookies, could I possibly do 2tbs size balls and if so how much longer would I cook it for?

      Reply
      • Sam

        May 31, 2023 at 10:01 pm

        Hi Penny! You could scoop them larger but I’m not sure on a bake time. Enjoy! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    7. Stephanie

      January 14, 2023 at 10:26 am

      5 stars
      Hi there. Thank you for this delicious recipe. I made these yesterday and I used the OXO small cookie scoop (1 tablespoon), which weighed 15 grams, and I got 65 cookies. You state that you scooped yours at 1 tablespoon per cookie and your video looks like a small cookie scoop, but why the significant difference in the number of cookies? Can you tell me how you measured your “tablespoon”?
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Sam

        January 16, 2023 at 9:08 pm

        Hi Stephanie! I’m glad you enjoyed them! I actually use a tablespoon sized cookie scoop as well. Interesting that you got so many more than I did, but as long as they tasted good that’s what’s important! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
        • Stephanie

          January 17, 2023 at 7:14 am

          Interesting. They were indeed delicious and so cute! Love all your recipes. Your site is top of my list to check out when I need a good recipe that works. ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks so much for responding.

      • Sabrina Duty

        March 14, 2025 at 9:43 am

        Hello,
        You may have creamed your butter/sugar mixture longer for a fluffier cream which results in more cookies! Hope that helps!

        Reply
    8. Elizabeth

      June 09, 2022 at 6:08 pm

      Hi! These cookies look so cute. I want to bake them for a party next week and was thinking of making them ahead of time and freezing them. Would it be alright to bake them and freeze them? Thank you!

      Reply
      • Sam

        June 10, 2022 at 12:49 pm

        Hi Elizabeth! That should work just fine. ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    9. Jeannine Suitors

      December 19, 2021 at 3:48 pm

      5 stars
      Oh so lemony. I didnโ€™t have extract so I used juice, still delicious!! Also, not a fan of powdered sugar, so used sugar crystals. So yummy! Thanks, Sam!!

      Reply
      • Jessica Flores

        March 11, 2022 at 1:01 pm

        Yesterday, I made these cookies and they are great! I want to make another batch, but I’m out of cream of tartar. What could I use a substitute for cream of tartar?

        Reply
        • Sam

          March 16, 2022 at 10:12 am

          Hi Jessica! I haven’t tested it without the cream of tartar, but I think they’ll still turn out. The cream of tartar adds a nice flavor to the cookies. Let me know how it goes if you try it! ๐Ÿ™‚

    10. Edie

      November 16, 2021 at 4:10 pm

      5 stars
      These are not only cute and fun but I swear these are the most delicious tasting cookie Iโ€™ve ever made or frankly ever eaten anywhere! Make these! You will be the heroโ€ฆIF you donโ€™t eat too many before sharing!!

      Reply
      • Eltee

        September 03, 2022 at 5:39 am

        Such a fun recipe! Just wondering how long they’ll last if kept in an air tight container. Thanks!

        Reply
        • Sam

          September 05, 2022 at 9:29 pm

          They should be good for about a week in an air tight container. ๐Ÿ™‚

    11. Heather

      October 16, 2021 at 6:38 am

      5 stars
      Easy to make & my grandkids loved them.

      Reply
      • Emily @ Sugar Spun Run

        October 16, 2021 at 10:04 am

        So happy to hear that these cookies were a hit for you, Heather! Enjoy โค๏ธ

        Reply
    12. Laks

      July 29, 2021 at 5:38 pm

      Hi Sam, if I want to buy the non pareils, which brand would be the tastiest? I’m looking for one that is the least chemical tasting and whose color does not bleed..

      Reply
      • Sam

        July 30, 2021 at 9:46 pm

        I buy mine from Country Kitchen Sweet Arts. ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    13. Kathy

      April 02, 2021 at 8:00 pm

      5 stars
      These cookies were so easy and fun to make. And the are delicious! Thanks for always sharing the BEST recipes.

      Reply
      • Sam

        April 03, 2021 at 4:19 pm

        Thank you so much, Kathy! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    « Older Comments
    5 from 37 votes (14 ratings without comment)

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    The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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